


Dust to Dust

by halcyonhowl (foxmoon)



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Body Horror, F/M, Fight Scene, Hurt/Comfort, Kravitz is hurt, M/M, Minor Violence, Minor blupjeans, Romance, Taako is angry, graveyard, minor blood and injury, spooky old temple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:48:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23120509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxmoon/pseuds/halcyonhowl
Summary: Kravitz is nearly killed by a cult of Kelemvor worshipers, and Taako plans on doing something about that. Barry and Lup are there to help, along with a few other surprises.
Relationships: Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 41
Kudos: 149





	1. Don't Leave

**Author's Note:**

> Each chapter title is the prompt for that respective chapter. 
> 
> Shout out to the tfw discord for suggestions/support/encouragement. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written for anonymous who asked for taakit + don't leave.

Taako has never seen Kravitz like this. He’s sprawled on the ground in Barry and Lup’s weird goth lab-dungeon, cloak in shreds fluttering around him. His construct form is a writhing puddle of opaque shadows and mist, as though it’s taking all of his strength to keep some semblance of a body intact. 

Taako kneels down, heart thuds heavy and sick. Kravitz groans in agony by his knees. His form is melting black wax. It’s curls of dark smoke. It’s changing and reforming as he tries to keep himself from completely slipping away. He can’t speak, and only stares at Taako with fearful, wild eyes as though looking at him is the only thing keeping him alive.

Taako hovers his hands over Kravitz’s shifting form, wanting to touch him and reassure him but it’s about as effective as trying to grab hold of fog. 

“Easy, babe. I’ll take care of this. You’ll be okay,” Taako says. 

Wisps of black, glimmering mist swirl towards Taako, wrap around him. The attempted touches do something, at least. The form solidifies enough so Taako can finally manage to cradle Kravitz’s head in his lap. Taako murmurs, “That’s it, stay with me.” 

_Please_. 

He won’t plead out loud, not yet. Taako knows the minute he does, it’ll be the end of his ability to hold his shit together, and he has little else on his mind right now than absolutely destroying whoever did this.

“Lup,” Taako says calmly. “Which necromancer piece of shit did this?” Taako holds Kravitz as best as he can, and it seems to help. His groans quiet, and he writhes less frequently. A ghostly hand reaches out from the mist, wispy fingers slide between his – ice cold, but familiar. 

“It wasn’t a necromancer,” Lup says joining him on the floor. “We thought it was at first, but it was a trap. Turned out to be paladins and clerics of Kelemvor. They said some horseshit about the Grim Reaper being an evil abomination and shouldn’t be involved in the death process. _Kelemvor is the rightful judge of lost souls, Kelemvor is the rightful God of Death_ ,” she mocks. “They wouldn’t shut up.”

“Okay, that’s fine. They can add Taako to their list of people who shouldn’t be involved in the death process, because I’m about to go fuck their shit up.”

“Taako, please don’t,” Barry says, voice tight. “They were real fucking powerful.”

“Hey, Barry? _I’m_ real fucking powerful,” Taako says.

“Yeah, of course, bud.” And that’s the end of Barry’s attempts to stop him, because Taako’s pretty sure Barry knows what this feels like.

Taako slides a hand over Kravitz’s forehead, brushing a few dreadlocks from his face. They turn to wisps of black smoke in his hand, and that almost breaks him. “But I’m also not stupid. I need more info, tell me what happened.”

“Well, for starters, Kravitz is real fucking powerful too,” Lup says. “We’ve seen him take incredible hits that could’ve unmade us. But this group had been studying him. They knew weaknesses even we didn’t know he had.”

“Yeah. With the really dangerous bounties, Kravitz always goes in first and we follow at his signal,” Barry says, not looking up as he searches through an old tome. “But this time he went in and was immediately ambushed with some of the most powerful fucking magic I’ve ever seen. Within seconds they had him caught in this pool of black liquid. They bound him there, activated these pillars around the room, and just unloaded on him. He tried to fight back but if he even moved, he’d be hit with some kind of psychic damage. We had to call on more reapers to help us. By the time we pushed them back, Kravitz was in awful shape.”

Lup rubs Taako’s shoulder. “Yeah, ol’ RQ was the only one who could stabilize him, then she immediately went to have words with Kelemvor. But she could only stall the process. He’ll start shedding soul essence once her wards wear off.”

“Who even fucking knows if she’s able to find Kelemvor. He’s an old god from a lost age. That stockade was his once upon a time.” Barry rubs his eyes under his glasses. He’s sweating and clearly also upset. That means a lot to Taako, to see they’re also upset about this.

“Fuck…” Anger churns in Taako’s stomach. It flows up through him and fills every limb like a pot boiling over. He’s been furious before, but not like this. Discovering Lup had been killed and trapped in the umbrella, that a century of memories were stolen from him, that he was made to forget the one person who matters to him for so long. Yeah, that invoked his rage. But this… this is a brutal, intentional desecration of someone he loves. This is an attempt to murder Kravitz and cause him unfathomable pain. This is Taako’s fury, white hot and sharp, eager to tear whomever did this apart into unrecognizable bits. He’d shake from it, except his mind keeps him still. 

“What sort of magics could do this?” Taako asks. He’s surprised that he’s manages to keep his voice steady this long. He looks down, feels Kravitz soothing him in return, with deliberate, soft caresses of his thumb across his wrist. “Can it be undone?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out!” Barry shoves the book aside and heads over to find another one. “It’s like right there at my fucking fingertips. It has to do with the planes. The negative material plane, I think. But the spells they used are so old and obviously not necromancy. Geas comes to mind, but it was different? Whatever that liquid was disappeared whenever we cut down the main paladin so I couldn’t even get a sample. _Shit_.”

“It’s okay, Bear, you’re doing all you can,” Lup reassures.

“Okay,” Taako says. “Okay. You keep looking in books. Let me know what you find. I know exactly who the fuck knows what spells they used. The very chucklefucks who did this, right?” Taako tries to gently release Kravitz so he can stand, but Kravitz clings to him, wisps of construct energy tightening. He’s so weak, but the resistance is there. 

_Don’t leave._ Kravitz pleads with his eyes, and Taako can almost hear it. He leans over to kiss his cold forehead.

There’s a prickling sensation behind Taako’s eyes and he feels the tears slip before he can stop them. He clenches his teeth and wipes them away. “Kravitz, I’ll be fine. I’m a big hero, right? They’re not going to hurt me. They think they’re benevolent, and I’ll use that to my advantage. How’s that sound?”

“That’s… actually a good plan,” Lup says, rising to her feet. “Kelemvor supposedly hates murder and necromancers and the undead, too. We’d get along great if not for this rancid hot take.”

“See?” Taako says to Kravitz. He strokes the back of his fingers softly along Kravitz’s cheek. Kravitz’s dark eyes flutter closed. “You hang out here with the nerds where you’ll be safe, and let me go avenge you. I promise I won’t rage out too much.”


	2. Harsh Whisper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is for @monogramsalarm who prompted with Taakitz + harsh whisper.

Taako turns away from Kravitz to face Lup. His ears twitch reflexively when Kravitz cries out in pain behind them. His voice is strange. It echoes like he’s much farther away. Taako doesn’t look back at him, though. The effort not to _hurts like hell_ , but he can’t. He can’t look back or he’ll want to stay, and he can’t fucking stay.

Lup conjures her scythe and readies it to create the portal. “So, Barry said the traces of magical energy left by their teleportation spell puts them somewhere high altitude and far south of here.” She slices the air before Taako and a shimmering rift laced with cosmetic dancing flames appears. “This should put you as close as possible.”

Taako stares through the portal. It’s dark, and the terrain looks rocky and slate gray. “Cool.” 

“Be careful out there, Taako. Call us the second you need help,” she says.

“Will do.”

“Hey.” 

He looks over. Lup’s sincere expression comforts him.

“He’s safe with us,” she says. “This group of losers – they thought they were attacking some esoteric entity. They didn’t expect the Grim Reaper to be… well, a person with feelings who is loved. They won’t know what’s comin’, Taako. They might have researched lore, but they don’t know him like we do. They don’t know how much he cares.”

Taako’s voice is soft and low and shakes in a way only Lup would catch. “I know.” 

“Oh, and you’ll want this.” Lup offers him an ornate staff with his KrEbStAr mounted on the top. “Your pinwheel thing. Finished it this morning.”

“It’s not a fuckin’ pinwheel. It’s a fuckin’ legit and powerful as hell wizard staff now, and thanks.” He grabs it from her.

A corner of Lup’s mouth lifts in a sideways smile. “It’s a pinwheel, you clown, it even spins per your request. Now go fuck their shit up.”

He walks past Lup through the portal and is met with wide, open silence. There’s a soft whisper of the liminal space closing behind him, and then nothing more than a steady, valley breeze. 

It’s the middle of the night still. The moon is full, and the stars overhead are so numerous and bright that he can see pretty far in the distance without need of dark vision. Stony mountain peaks and rubble from past landslides surround him. Only a few brush plants are scattered here and there throughout the terrain. 

He looks toward one end of the valley, and that’s where he finds a rough-hewn stone temple built against the side of a rocky mountain peak. Two brasiers by the entrance cast a dancing gold glow over a symbol on the door. A skeletal hand holding up scales. He assumes this is the right place, and if so, Lup wasn’t too far off.

Taako lifts his stone of farspeech. “I’m here, Lu. Tell Kravitz I’ll be back soon. Gonna put you on one way now. Hopefully you’ll hear everything.”

There’s a crackle of energy, and Lup’s voice follows. “You got it, bro. We’re listening. Give ‘em hell.”

Taako smiles and tucks the stone back into his layers of robes and tunic. He hurries toward the temple, a wildly dangerous and yet perfectly clever plan hatched in his mind. 

The closer he gets, the more dense the rubble in his path becomes, until he realizes with moderate horror that it’s not rubble at all. They’re small grave markers. Thousands and thousands of them, each bearing a name or an epithet. 

He slows to carefully wind between them. As hard as he tries to not read the markers, it’s not easy to avoid. 

_Unknown human child, 7 years._

_Ruth Greenbriar._

_Quintin Valekeep._

Taako presses onward. This is just another death god, of course things were bound to get spooky. It’s not like he’s never been in a graveyard before. Get a fuckin’ grip.

_Unknown dwarven soldier, 140 years._

_Avaleniel Swiftstar._

_Unknown dwarven child, 2 years._

_Unknown dragonborn farmer, 25 years._

It’s almost too much to bear. He tries not to count them, but he keeps picturing forty graves. Over and over. But none of the markers he crosses are etched with those names, and _that shit wasn't his fault._ He shifts his attention straight ahead and stalks onward with long strides for the temple. His focus is so single-minded, however, that he almost misses that there’s another person out here with him.

The figure moves slowly amid the grave markers, weight resting slightly on a crooked wooden staff. Their gray, priestly robes trail behind them, and they make a sign with their free hand as they walk past each stone. 

Taako stops, but he’s already made enough noise to be noticed for sure. For once he wishes it was just a fuckin’ ghost. The name _Jilly Riverbuck_ is on a grave marker by his feet.

The figure stops and is still.

Taako curses under his breath, but lifts his chin, KrEbStAfF gripped in one hand and a spell ready at the other. 

The priest turns to face Taako. They pull back their hood to reveal an older human man with sad eyes. “Greetings. What brings you here, traveler?” he says.

“Uh, scientists haven’t figured that out yet. Hey, what is this place? And be quick, I’m kinda in a hurry.”

The priest looks around with a sweeping gesture, and then back to Taako. “This is the relic war memorial grounds, where those who lost their lives at the careless hands of the relic-makers may find a peaceful resting place in this world.”

Taako’s stomach lurches. Fuckin’ great. So much for his attempts to appeal to their sensible, benevolent side. There’s no way this guy won’t recognize Taako. “And that’s the temple of Kelemvor?”

“Indeed.” The priest taps his staff on the ground. “Are you here to pay respects to a fallen loved one?” 

“I’m here to do something like that,” Taako says.

The priest peers more closely, familiarity dawning in his eyes. “Ahh, I see. You’re one of them. One of the Seven Harbingers.”

Well that’s just fantastic. “I dunno what you’re talkin’ about, my dude.” Taako immediately casts sleep, and lunges forward to catch him before he can fall and hit his head on a grave marker. The priest groans slightly, head lolling to the side, but he’s definitely out cold. “Oh, you’ll be _fine_ , it’s a nice night. Chill as hell. Though, I hope there aren’t any coyotes or anything like that out here. I didn’t really check. Jilly Riverbuck here will keep you company. Anyway, peace!” 

Taako casts disguise-self to look like the priest, and his KrEbStAfF like an ordinary crooked staff. He hurries onward, reaches the heavy temple door at last to find it unguarded and ajar. He slides in, briefly scans over the large, vaulted nave. Massive pillars flank rows of central stone pews. A colorful portrait of some himbo-looking knight in burnished gray armor hangs by the transept. Aside from that, everything inside is cold, gray stone. Even the sconces on the pillars do little to add warmth to this place. 

“Jeezy creezy, God of Death is right. I’m about to _die_ , this place is boring as hell,” Taako mutters to himself. He hopes Lup laughed.

Voices draw his attention toward the cloister garden door. It’s slightly open as well, so he heads for it quietly.

“I don’t know!” a voice, feminine and youthful, says. “They appeared from everywhere. We had to retreat.”

“We were so close,” says another, older and gruff. “There were liches among them. How could we expect that?”

Other voices chime in, talking over each other. _It, it, it._ They keep saying. Taako picks up maybe ten or eleven of them. Not great odds, but if they call Kravitz it one more fuckin’ time…

“The Grim Reaper working with liches? This is far worse than I feared,” an authoritative voice says. The others grow silent. “This must mean that it is aware of our might and has let liches and wraiths into its retinue in an attempt to strengthen itself.”

Taako rolls his eyes. Fuck this guy. He strolls through the archway and into the cloister garden, only dimly aware that any of them could potentially have true sight. Doesn’t matter, they’re toast either way. He finds a group of about twelve dipshits gathered around a brazier, two of which are on the ground. 

“Father Ethaniel,” says the one with authority. He’s a tall, buff paladin with a perfectly trimmed beard and bright blue eyes. Not the guy in the portrait, but clearly a fan. “We apologize for disturbing your nightly prayer round. “We have two here who are gravely injured. Much of our power was exhausted fighting off the spectre hoard.” 

“Certainly, uh, Sir… Chaa–eri–daaan–?” Taako’s voice rose an octave with every stretched-out guess.

The leader-paladin furrowed his brow in confusion. “Sir Rich–”

“–Richard!”

“Richlandor.”

“See, that’s why I never remember. It’s a normal name, then it just fucks up halfway through. Anyway, I’ll have a look.” Taako-as-Ethaniel heads over to where they have two unconscious, terribly battered bodies laid out in the grass. He kneels down and prepares a spell just in case, pretending as though he’s gathering energy to revive them. It’s not the best position to be in, back towards them and on the ground, but he’ll work it out. “So what happened to the reaper? The real handsome _grim_ one in particular.”

“Um… We’re not sure, Father. We had to escape before we could confirm, but it’s as good as defeated.”

Taako’s grip tightens on the staff. “How did you manage that? He’s a tough one.”

There’s a span of silence before Sir Richlandor answers. “Father, forgive me, but are you well? You were the one who devised the strategy.”

Shit. “Oh, I know, my child, but walk me through what you did. You know, in case you missed a step and that’s why we’re in this situation. It’s always good to self-reflect. Kelemvor said that himself, he said–” Taako affects his voice to sound boring and monotone, “‘ _Always self reflect after you fail at killing the Grim Reaper.’_ ”

Again, an awkward silence follows. A few murmurs pick up around him.

Finally, Richlandor responds. “Of course, Father. We baited the wicked spirit with a powerful necromantic spell, thanks to Dorisanne here.” 

Taako glances over his shoulder toward a very young wizard, possibly around Angus’s age, in drab gray robes with a book on a leather band at her hip. She holds a few worn sheafs of parchment in her arms. There’s overt guilt in her eyes and she looks on the verge of tears. 

“You are forgiven for the necromancy, my dear. Please go and get some rest. Leave those there.” Taako-as-Ethaniel gestures to a stone bench nearby. 

“Yes, Father Ethaniel.” She places the parchment sheets on the bench, and hurries away. 

Taako resumes the pretence and waves his hand over the bodies using prestidigitation to make it look as though healing magic swirls over them. “Okay, what next?” 

“We already had the portal to the Shadowfell open, channeled threads of the negative energy plane through that. The wretch walked right into it! We quickly tethered its vile essence there, and at that point it was fairly simple. Kelemvor’s judgment was swift and severe.”

“I can still hear its shrieks of terror,” says a cleric. “Tried to trick us by using a man’s voice so that we might second-guess ourselves.”

Taako’s face remains a blank mask, but he makes a point of remembering that cleric’s voice. He clears his throat. “Threads of negative energy… plane? …through the Shadowfell,” Taako repeats. He hopes it’ll all make sense to Barry. “And you’re certain there’s no way he could restore himself, or what have you?”

“It is bound to the negative material plane still, there is no way it–” Sir Richlandor steps closer, armor plates scuffing together. “Why are they not reviving, Father? Is something wrong with your magics?”

“Stop him!” shouts the real Father Ethaniel. 

“A doppleganger!” One of the clerics cries out. Gasps follow.

“Fuckin’ hell.” Taako jumps to his feet and drops the disguise.

“A harbinger!” Sir Richlandor points at Taako. “I knew something nefarious was afoot! Face Kelemvor’s Judgment!” He draws his sword. The rest follow, drawing weapons and readying spells. 

Taako isn’t sure which ones were part of the ambush party, but he hopes that means at least half of the people he faces are out of power. He shrugs a shoulder, keeping his cool.

“Yeah, you got me. Hi, I’m Taako, yanno, from TV,” he drawls. “You know what this place needs?” He grips his dope-ass, shiny new wizard staff with both hands. “A pop of color!” 

Taako swings the staff and the KrEbStAr on top spins from the momentum. A spray of prismatic energy spirals out from the whirling blades in a sixty-foot cone before him, blasting each of his foes with a different type of magical damage. Two catch fire, one is struck by lightning, another by acid, three frost over, two scream from acid bursting over them, and others seize up, unable to move.

Sir Richlandor is the one who is struck by lightning, and it’s bright and powerful and Taako can still feel the current of it in the air. He’s in terrible shape when he recovers. Black singe marks cover his armor, nearly obscuring the symbol of Kelemvor on his breastplate, and a fractal patterned scar winds across his face. 

But he still manages to lift his sword in a vengeful arc aimed at Taako’s unarmored shoulder.

* * *

Somewhere in the Astral Plane, on one of its many scenic beaches, there is a retired God of Death sipping a celestial mojito. He looks out over the placid sea of souls, very glad to no longer be responsible for their judgment. 

Then there’s a dark, imposing shape blocking his view, and he pulls up his shades to see the Raven Queen looming over him, black feathers glistening in the wan sunlight. Her eyes are dark and bottomless under her mask.

“ _Your followers are at it again, Kelemvor. They have harmed my son this time_ ,” she says. Her voice is everywhere at once, and layered with whispers and echoes.

Kelemvor jerks up and spills a bit of his drink. “By the old gods! You scared the shit out of me!”

The Raven Queen tilts her head. “ _I will take care of this myself_.” And she vanishes in a swirl of black mist and feathers.

“Wait!” Kelemvor stands and wipes away the spilled drink with a gray towel. “Let me deal with them! They always mean well!”

He throws the towel down with a big sigh. “Dammit.”

* * *

Taako cries out as the blade slices across his shoulder, tearing his robes open and spilling blood. He staggers backward and clutches his wound. “ _Motherfucker_ ,” he says through gritted teeth.

“How dare you disrupt the will of Kelemvor!” Sir Richlandor snarls. 

Taako’s fury is focused, ready, and his voice only slightly trembles from it. “How dare _you_ try to straight up murder _my husband_.” He shoves back at Richlandor’s second attack so hard that he stumbles backwards into another paladin.

“What utter wicked nonsense! The Grim Reaper? Your _husband_?” Richalndor wipes blood from the corner of his mouth. “ The stain the Harbingers have brought to this world is worse than I imagined. You have clearly been tainted by the Grim Reaper’s devious suggestions! ”

Taako genuinely laughs at that. “Oh boy, I can’t wait to tell him you said that.”

A cleric moves forward to attack. Taako deflects it with the KrEbStAfF, its bladed spires creating sparks as it grinds against his armor. 

Another comes at him. And another. And another still. Radiant light and blessed cudgels aim to bruise his ribs and set him alight. Some attacks land, others only nick him. 

Taako feels dizzy, his perception dimming, but he pushes himself to keep fighting. He fires off a couple powerful magic missiles, not the most creative, but he’s feeling weak as blood continues to seep from his wounds. They yell at him. They damn him. They do everything they can. His vision goes blurry and everything is suddenly dark.

His heart beats heavy. He falls to his knees.

He hears… something. A muffled voice, a harsh, layered whisper. Loud and dangerous and echoing. Black phantom feathers fall all around and disappear, only to fall again.

Cold air envelops Taako, soothes and protects him. He hears the voices come together into one that is so welcome his whole body relaxes.

“ _You dare harm my son_ ,” the Raven Queen says, voice booming. Purple and black energy crackles around her looming form. “ _You dare harm my son’s mortal lover!_ ”

Taako laughs weakly at that, and thanks the gods once again for better equipped women.


	3. Little Ball of Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This part ended up long and has nothing to do with the next prompt (comfort food), so I decided to put it out on its own. The next part will be the last! Warning for blood, injury, a Barry skull.

The Raven Queen remains intense, yet poised. She’s draped in swaths of darkness and billowing mist that chills everything it touches. In the material realm, her shape is a lot less discernible, and far more… monstrous, than in the astral plane. She has wings, seemingly several of them, a long onyx beak, and sharp talons, but it’s hard to tell where those aspects connect to a solid form among so much mystical obfuscation. 

Soon enough, it’s hard to see anything at all. There’s a smell like burning leaves, and Taako tastes blood in his mouth. He tries to clamber away from the garden to get out of her way. Even though he knows she means him no harm, her presence has an area effect that slows him down. The lacerations on his chest and legs don’t help. He slouches against a stone pillar for support, the KrEbStAfF resting across his legs.

The Kelemvor devotees shout and threaten. They strike the Raven Queen with steel and radiant spells, but their effort is too small for a goddess. Her layered, varied voices come together to utter an incantation, and they’re struck down with a powerful wave of necrotic force. They cower and wail together across the garden.

With some struggle, Taako pulls out his stone of farspeech and turns off one-way. “H-hey, Lup? Y’get everythin’? Threads of… of negative energy, or some shit...”

“Yeah, Barry’s already on it.” Lup’s voice crackles, then clears. “Are you okay?”

“No, ‘m not feeling super great. Is – ah!  _ fuck _ –  _ Kravitz _ okay?” he says through a spike of pain. 

“Taako, I hope so.” She sounds exasperated. “We’re doing everything we can.”

He sighs. “I know you are.”

The darkness ebbs somewhat, and Taako can finally see the sky again. Stars twinkle through the fading mists of the Raven Queen’s form. The air feels warmer, and there are ravens everywhere. In the trees, along the temple eaves. A few flap down to stand watch near him. 

He sits up with a wince and sees her at the center of the courtyard, a concentrated figure of black energy and swirling feathers. Beside her is a man wearing burnished gray armor with a ghostly gray aura. They’re both facing the followers of Kelemvor as the armored one admonishes them with overly florid language. 

Taako wipes the blood from his mouth with the sleeve of his tunic. “Lup? I think I could use a lift outta here. They seem to have this sitch handled.”

There’s no answer. Taako begins to panic. “Lup? Lulu?” He shakes the stone and taps it against his palm. “LUP!”

There’s static, and then he hears Barry’s voice. “Taako, hey, it’s okay, buddy. Lup was helping me move him.”

A shadow falls over Taako and he looks up to find the very tall bearded dude with glowing armor holding a hand out to him. “Uh… hang on, Barold.” Taako looks at his hand and back up to him. “Last time a god held her hand out she told me not to touch it or I might destroy the world.”

Kelmevor chuckles. “You look as though you’d fancy a heal, lad.” He puts his hand on Taako’s head. “My blessing be upon you. It is not your time to die.”

Gentle waves of healing magic flow through Taako. He feels like he’s floating momentarily, body numb to the sensation of itself mending. Then the armored god is gone, and all that’s left is a sky full of stars and the noisy chatter of ravens.

One by one, the ravens lift off to the sky and wheel overhead. More and more join in, and soon there’s a massive swarm, then it’s all gone, and so is he.

* * *

Taako can’t see anything at first except darkness. A soothing sensation washes over his mind. He’s surrounded by the soft and layered feathers of enormous wings. They unfold and then tuck away into the long shadowy train of the Raven Queen’s mist-gown. She glides over to a glowing sphere of light that sits in a shallow bowl – looks to be made from the top of a skull – on one of Barry’s workbenches. 

Taako follows. He wants to pick up the skull-bowl, but chances are high that it was from a real skull. And if that’s the case, it’s definitely from one of Barry’s own skulls. So he just hangs back and stares at the love of his life as he glows softly in the curve of bone. 

“My child sleeps,” the Raven Queen says and it’s strange to hear to hear her voice like this, without the ominous effects and creepy whispers. It’s so  _ tender _ . “He’s healing – thank you.”

Lup stands nearby putting away components on a shelf of jars and vials. “No sweat, boss queen.”

“I haven’t seen him like this in a long time.” Taako says. He reaches for the skull-bowl – of course longing would make him overlook the creep factor – and cradles it in his hands. The Kravitz-orb begins to pulse softly. Taako’s heart is a tight knot in his chest, but it relaxes as he watches Krav’s rhythmic glow. 

“Yeah. He reverted to the soulform once I severed his link from the negative material plane,” Barry says, and he’s weirdly excited. He has a book open on his desk and a tablet of farspeech projecting a magical screen on the wall. Various arcane equations glow, glyphs move in fancy patterns. “Now that’s some complicated shit there. An entire plane scrambled into the Shadowfell?”

“Yeah, it’s cool stuff, babe,” Lup says.

“Barry J. Bluejeans. You dabble in things that could cause you great harm,” the Raven Queen says. 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Barry responds amusedly.

“I feel, what do the mortals say, gray feathers growing in.” She brushes a wispy hand over the Kravitz-orb, then turns to face Taako. “You risked your life for him.”

Taako shrugs a shoulder. “It’s how we do.”

She tilts her head and he tries not to feel unnerved by the black eyes through that mask. But this time they glisten with tears. He sees one slip from under her mask and fall on a feather at her collar. 

“Shit.” Taako’s heart does a few back handsprings that he can only wish to do nowadays. “I mean, yeah. I’d do it again. He’s very special to… to all of us.” And fuck, his voice is wobbly with emotion. 

“You love him very much,” she says. 

Taako holds the skull bowl-full of Kravitz closer to his chest. This is getting to be a bit much. He feels like he's under one of Barry's microscopes. “Yeah, got me there. Guilty as charged," he says through a clenched jaw.

“Take this.” She reaches somewhere in her cloak and hands him a small object. A single black feather made of onyx. At its center is a small red jewel shaped like a drop of blood. “This is a resurrection feather, and it is now bound to your soul. Please use it wisely. I am glad you are… family.” 

He stares at her with mildly concealed wonder, then it finally registers just what she’s given him. There are no words, at least not ones typically at the tip of his tongue, for such a gift. He swallows thickly. “Nice! Thanks, this is… it’s really nice.”

“He will heal faster at home. Do not keep him here long.” Her wings unfold from the unseen space she’d hidden them. She wraps them around herself and vanishes.

“Holy shit, Taako,” Barry says. “Can I have a look at that?”

“No way, my man. This stays right here in the armpit pocket.” Taako moves aside his cloak and robes to stuff it in there, careful not to tilt the skull bowl.

Lup grabs her scythe from where it leans against the wall nearby. “Now that things are a lot less scary up in here, I’m about to check in on that young wizard I heard over the stone. The one who dabbled in necromancy.”

“Oh, Lup, for real? Please don’t drag her to hell. She’s just a kid,” Taako says. 

“Oh, no, no.” Lup laughs. “I’m not gonna do anything like that. I’ll just check in on her and make sure she’s all right. She sounded a bit scared.”

“Oh. Yeah. Good call.”

Lup shakes her head, still smiling. “My brother has a soft spot for the kids. Who’da thought.”

“Shut up, and pick up my hat while you’re at it. I think it fell off at some point between the chest and the leg wounds.”

“Sure thing,” Lup slices her scythe through the air and a portal wreathed in dancing flames appears. “Have fun playing in those dark and volatile planes, honey. I’ll be back for dinner.”

Barry calls her over for a quick kiss that gets a little heated.

Taako rolls his eyes. He instead focuses his attention on Kravitz. “When you’re better, I’m gonna make you all of your favorite comfort foods from every century.”

Kravitz trills a little in his sleep. 

Taako smiles. “Yeah. I’ll kiss you lots, too.” 

* * *

Several days pass in the astral plane. Kravitz is still in recovery as a little ball of light. Taako stays by his side as much as possible, only popping into the material plane to check in on Angus, Ren, and the school for brief stints. There are lots of idle hours. The Astral realm is boring as hell, but he doesn’t want to miss it when Kravitz awakens.

Meanwhile, Barry and Lup work hard to keep up with the reaping demand, but thanks to a newly forged pact between the Raven Queen and her predecessor, Kelemvor, his followers have agreed to work alongside them as a mortal branch of the Raven Queen’s retinue. They’re still allowed to worship the old death god to their heart's content, as long as they recognize that the Raven Queen’s will is what they serve, and that this was Kelemvor’s wish.

The young wizard from Team Kelemvor took to this path with excitement, and in no time she made her place under Lup and Barry’s tutelage. Taako hopes this means Lup will stop teasing him about his begrudging parental affection for Angus.

It’s early afternoon on the ninth day. Taako sits on the velvet cushioned window seat in the small room that serves as Kravitz’s quarters in the astral realm. There’s not much here other than a sitting area, a heavy bookshelf, and a stand with a black cello sitting in one corner. Most of everything else – a four-poster bed, a piano, and one skeleton cat named Tabbia – has been moved to their home in the material plane. 

Taako turns the page of a gothic gay romance novel Kravitz had on one of his shelves with a sigh. Even mentally changing the characters' names to his and Kravitz’s did little to ease his wariness (except for during the steamy bits). He’s about to go down to the stockade and take pot shots at the bad ghosts when he hears a little trilling sound. 

The Kravitz orb floats up out of its red velvet cushion and hovers over to Taako slowly.

“Hey! You’re awake!” Taako grins and puts the book aside. 

The Kravitz orb glows brightly. And keeps glowing brighter and expanding in size until Taako has to shield his eyes. At last, standing before him, is Kravitz. Tall, dark, and handsome – and, well… naked. He crosses the distance in the space of a breath and pulls Taako into his arms.

Taako shrieks, because he’s  _ cold as fuck _ , and Kravitz releases him. 

“I’m so sorry, Taako,” he says, eyes roaming over him like he’s afraid he might disappear forever. 

It’s a look that makes Taako feel way too vulnerable after all the shit that’s happened, so he pulls Kravitz back into the embrace and lays his head on his bare shoulder. “Stop that. You didn’t do anything wrong, you’re just a bit of a popsicle. Now, just hold me, okay?”

Kravitz does as he’s asked. It’s a long time before they separate, and by that time Kravitz is plenty warm.


	4. Comfort Food

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is for @heckthedam who prompted with Taakitz + comfort food!

It takes some time for Kravitz to recover enough that he can simulate mortal functions with his construct form. Things like breathing, eating, or arousal aren’t vital for a celestial reaper, so they are harder to reconstitute. 

Taako doesn’t mind waiting on the sex, but it’s very difficult to stifle the urge to comfort his man with food. So he spends time working up a menu plan for when he can. It’s something he doesn’t do often anymore, but it’s as natural to him as breathing. 

With sheafs of parchment spread out around him on the kitchen counter, and cabinets and pantry open for quick inventory, he builds a story out of recipes. There are a lot of factors to consider. What’s easiest for him to digest at first? What can he transmute out of what he has to add panache? What emotions does he want Kravitz to feel, and what memories does he want to invoke? 

It’s not quite linear in the end. It’s not a progressive walk down memory lane, but the underlying message he hopes to convey is, ‘ _ I was terrified. You’re everything to me. I don’t ever want to lose you.’  _ All that gross, sappy shit he can’t bring himself to say, but he absolutely feels.

Once Kravitz is able to summon his scythe, his suits, his skeletal form – once the Raven Queen has doted on her son, and Lup and Barry have visited with their reaper reports and their affectionate jabs, Taako is ready to begin. 

He greets Kravitz in the morning with a perfect cheese omelette and a side of toast with butter and fig jam. There’s bacon just in case, natch. He squeezes fresh orange juice for the side, and that’s all for now. Decadent in its simplicity. Taako doesn’t want to overwhelm his senses.

He puts on a little light music on their gramophone –  _ specific _ music – and sets the table with flowers off to the side so he can still gaze across at Krav’s handsome face.

As they share breakfast, Taako gossips a little. Well, a lot. Because Susan noticed Kravitz wasn’t around for a while, and tried to spread a rumor that they were having marital trouble. 

“Should we pretend that’s the case?” Kravitz asks. They normally have a lot of fun with Susan’s assumptions. He puts down his fork after savoring the last bite.

“Oh, no, homie. I told her you  _ died _ . I said, ‘that’s no way to talk about my late husband, Susan!’” Taako feigns despair, and rests the back of his hand against his forehead.

Kravitz laughs. “That’s quite morbid, love. Did she believe you?”

“No, I think I’ve used that one too many times.”

“Taako!” Kravitz is caught in a fit of laughter that makes Taako feel so much affection he wants to run outside and scream.

Thankfully, Taako manages to pull himself together. “Hey, you feeling okay after that meal, hot stuff?”

“Absolutely. It was delicious as it was the first time you made it for me.”

“Well, no shit. That’s to be expected.” Taako stands and tries not to make it too obvious that Kravitz remembering this meal isn’t sending him straight fucking into oribit. He drops a quick kiss on Kravitz’s temple before gathering their empty plates.

Kravitz follows him into the kitchen with their cups. “I’ll take care of this. You did all the cooking.”

“No way, babe. Listen –” Taako turns to face Kravitz, and they’re standing very close. So close he can see the gentle rise and fall of Kravitz’s chest as he simulates breathing. 

_ Then there’s Kravitz in agony. Kravitz made of writhing smoke, barely tethered to this world. _

A tight, fretful feeling squeezes at Taako’s heart. He pushes it away and smiles, easy and coy. “I have this whole thing planned out, and you’re gonna love it. Cleaning up is part of the process. Don’t ask why or how, fuck if I know. It’s important to me that you don’t feel any obligations, I guess.”

“Okay, as you wish.” Kravitz leans back against the counter next to the sink. He looks up in thought with one hand resting back on the counter and the other on his hip.

While washing the dishes, Taako steals more than a couple of glances. The light from the window silhouettes Kravitz’s profile and the angle of his head reveals quite a bit of neck. Taako’s heart swells with love, and then that pang of  _ I almost lost him  _ returns. He wants to reach for him and hold him and kiss him all over, but he keeps his hands busy in the sink so it’s not obvious that anything’s wrong. Nothing’s  _ wrong _ . Everything turned out fine. Kravitz is standing here next to him looking fine as hell and full from a perfect meal.

Kravitz slowly tilts his head and his eyes slide up and over to meet Taako’s stare. There’s a bit of a smirk on his full lips, and Taako’s emotions take a sharp turn toward  _ wanting _ .

“What do you have planned for me next?” Kravitz asks.

Fucking perfect. He’s deffo back to normal, because he one hundo percent knows what gets Taako’s motor running. Taako dries off his hands and reaches for the hand lotion. “Oh, no, I won’t crack that easily. It’s a surprise.” He grins with a flash of teeth.

“Hmm. Do you know why I’m asking?” 

Taako begins cleaning up the few things left out on the countertops. “I have an idea, but lay it on me.”

“You made that same meal for me the first time we spent the night together.”

“Mmhm. I love where your mind’s at, but it’s more than that.”

Taako puts the last bowl away, and moves into Kravitz’s personal space. He slips his arms through Kravitz’s to rest his hands on the counter. Kravitz keeps his casual pose, hand on hip, hand propped on counter, but the mirth in his eyes fades into something softer and more serious. 

“ _ Taako _ ...” he whispers.

Taako answers with a firm kiss. There’s nothing shy or soft about it. It’s insistent and deep. It’s  _ I love you, _ and  _ I need you _ wrapped into one. Kravitz returns it just as keen, and it makes warmth spread low through his body – but it’s still somewhat restrained. There’s something Taako wants to say, and he doesn’t want it to be lost, even by way of passion. 

When Taako does finally pull back, he searches Kravitz’s face. His lovestruck, handsome face.

“I realized something that day.” Taako pauses to swallow down a lump. “Before the Hunger came here and all that shit. I realized that… I didn’t want you to leave. People left so many times in my life that I started expecting it, and then I started to  _ want _ it. Push them away before they can do it to me. It’s how I rolled. But,  _ fuck. _ I didn’t want you to do that. I didn’t want to push you away. I wanted you to stay.” He stops again as emotions threaten to rise up and spill over. He softens his voice and looks down. “The day after that, I still wanted you to stay. Right now, I want you to stay.”

Kravitz pulls Taako into a firm embrace. They stand there for a long time just holding each other as the gramophone plays soft piano music in the other room. Taako melts into it. He finds comfort in his words just lingering in the open. It’s strange to feel okay with that, but this is  _ Kravitz. _ He loves Kravitz so fucking much, and he could’ve lost him, but he didn’t. If he had to risk it again, he would. To keep him here, to feel the comfort of his arms through the rest of his life.

Kravitz brings his hand up to stroke Taako’s hair, fingers twining through the strands. He lets out a shaky breath, and says, “That’s what held me together. I wanted to stay with you. You kept me here.”

Taako smiles, tearful eyes closed tight. He can’t talk or he’ll fuckin’ burst and say Jeffandrew knows what. Instead he clings so tight, and nuzzles into Kravitz’s cool skin.

There are more meals after this one, more confessions imbued in tablespoons and careful transmutations. Kravitz grows stronger and stronger as days go by, and eventually he’s back at it, heading up the Raven Queen’s charge. Powerful and clever and… adorable as always.

Taako shifts his focus from meals that once stood for specific moments, meals that once comforted Kravitz in their shared past, and shifts to inventing new ones. And over time, the picture in his mind of Kravitz in agony and fearfully fading away, is replaced by one of Kravitz solid and strong. Of Kravitz, who he loves, and who stays.


End file.
